The main line of the railway runs in the general east-west direction from Taiyuan to Zhongwei via Lüliang and Dingbian, serving a number of communities in western Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and Ningxia, many of which previously did not have rail service at all.

The Dingbian-Yinchuan branch runs from Dingbian northwest, to Ningxia's capital city Yinchuan.

The railway also has a short dead-end branch from Lüliang to Lin County (Linxian) in the northwestern Shanxi.

In some areas (a section of the main line east of Dingbian, and the Dingbian-Yinchuan branch), the railway route roughly parallels the Great Wall of China.

It includes the 20 km (12 mi) long Lüliangshan Tunnel near Lüliang City in western Shanxi.